The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Royal New Yoorleansxe2x80x99.
The new Chrysanthemum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Fort Myers, Fla. and Salinas, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new potted Chrysanthemum cultivars that are suitable for year-round production with uniform plant growth habit, good vigor, desirable inflorescence form and floret colors, fast response time, and good postproduction longevity.
The new Chrysanthemum is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of a proprietary induced mutation that originated by exposing unrooted cuttings of the Chrysanthemum cultivar New Yoorleans, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,215, to X-ray radiation in December, 1996, in Fort Myers, Fla. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the irradiated selection in April, 1997 in Salinas, Calif. The selection of this plant was based on its uniform plant growth habit, good vigor, desirable inflorescence form and floret colors, fast response time, and good postproduction longevity.
Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Salinas, Calif. in July, 1997. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Royal New Yoorleans has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, and/or light level, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Royal New Yoorleansxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Royal New Yoorleansxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Chrysanthemum:
1. Uniform and upright plant habit.
2. Strong and vigorous growth habit.
3. Dark green foliage.
4. Uniform flowering response.
5. Typically grown as a spray-type.
6. Early flowering, eight-week response time.
7. Freely flowering habit.
8. Daisy-type inflorescences that are about 6.3 cm in diameter.
9. Purple and white bi-colored ray florets and bright yellow-colored disc florets.
10. Good postproduction longevity with plant maintaining good substance and color for at least three weeks in an interior environment.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the cultivar New Yoorleans. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventors in Salinas, Calif., plants of the New Chrysanthemum differ from plants of the cultivar New Yoorleans in the following characteristics:
1. Ray florets of plants of the new Chrysanthemum have a larger ratio of purple to white coloration than ray florets of plants of the cultivar New Yoorleans.
2. Purple ray floret color of plants of the new Chrysanthemum is darker than purple ray floret color of plants of the cultivar New Yoorleans.
3. Retention of ray floret coloration under high temperature and/or low light conditions is better on plants of the new Chrysanthemum than plants of the cultivar New Yoorleans.